Discussion and possible action to approve an initial two year contract with extensions of up to a maximum of 48 additional months, with American Medical Response to provide 911-ambulance service within the City of Peoria.

The Peoria Fire-Medical Department seeks to enter into a contract with American Medical Response (AMR) to provide 911-ambulance service to augment the City’s existing ambulance service. In December 2015, the City offered a request for proposal for ambulance service within the City of Peoria. AMR was the only respondent. Since that time, the City and AMR have continued to operate under contract extensions under the existing contract. The City and AMR have negotiated the contract while the City has implemented its own ambulance service. Under the proposed contract, AMR will continue to provide ambulance service to those calls where the AMR ambulance is closest to the call. As the City expands its ambulance service, AMR will scale back its designated ambulances within the City, but will continue to provide ambulance services during times of high call volume. Under the proposed contract, AMR will provide ambulances that are designated to the City as opposed to dedicated to the City, which allows AMR to utilize those resources as needed in surrounding communities. The proposed contract is performance based, which requires response time criteria be met ninety (90) percent of the time. Any response criteria under ninety (90) percent in any given month is subject to financial penalties.

On April 20, 2010, City Council approved the current contract with PMT Ambulance to begin on August 18, 2010. The current contract expired on August 17, 2015 and the City and AMR have been operating under contract extensions while the proposed contract was being negotiated. If the City Council approves the proposed contract, the Contract will then need approval from the Arizona Department of Health Services (AZDHS).

A:  Approve the request as proposed.

B:  Reject the request and provide further guidance to staff.           

The contract as proposed provides for reimbursement to the City for the following:

The difference between the Basic Life Support (BLS) ambulance rate and the Advanced Life Support (ALS) rate is based upon rates determined by AZDHS for any ALS patient Peoria Fire-Medical Department Paramedics accompany to the hospital on an AMR ambulance. The current rate is $98.15. Over the past 12 months, this has yielded $311,429. This is expected to decrease as the City expands its ambulance service.

The amount per call for supplies in which a patient is transported by an AMR ambulance is $14.00.